Stepping in through the front door, the first sight that welcomed me was that of Ashley playing a round of cards with Sam and Kyle at the living room. Somewhere in the kitchen, I could hear the clinking of plates and I caught the scent of dinner cooking. I figured Paige and Rosa were in the kitchen.

Memories of Sofia swam through my mind at the sight of the girls and the guards. Sam and Kyle stood up upon seeing me. Both looked sheepish about being caught playing games with the girls while off guard duty.

“Your highness,” Sam began to explain, “we were just…”

“It’s fine.” I said, waving his explanation off. Truth be told, I found myself irritated by the whole situation. I was desperately trying to reel my anger in.

Ashley gave both guards an odd look, remaining seated on the couch, a full hand of cards still clutched between her fingers.

Largely due to Sofia, my being prince of The Shade wasn’t given much emphasis within my own home. I never really interacted much with the girls. As far as I was concerned, they were Sofia’s friends, and I didn’t need to bother much about them as long as Sofia kept them in line. With Sofia gone, however, I realized I couldn’t just leave them cooped up in a guest room doing nothing. What to do with them was just another item in my growing list of things to deal with.

I gave the two guards curious glances. They seemed to have developed quite a rapport with both Sofia and the girls. Maybe I could just give them the girls. At least that would get them all off my back. I was surprised by the adverse reaction I realized I had to the idea of letting the girls go. The house would be so empty without them, for heaven’s sake, even if they managed to get under my skin.

Irritated, I decided to ignore the people making a hangout of my living room and began to walk away. Afraid of the darkness, I found myself seeking light.

“Where are you going?” Ashley called after me curiously.

Her voice irritated me. “The Sun Room.”

The Sun Room was the one room in the penthouse that Sofia had designed herself. I mentioned to her once that I missed the sun, so she designed a room with a beach mural on one wall and the illusion of sunlight streaming from a sunroof on the ceiling.

When I opened the door, I realized that it was largely untouched since the night Lucas attacked Sofia and drank her blood. Broken glass was all over the floor. Cracks lined the wall I threw Lucas against. Traces of blood still appeared in several areas of the room – some Ben’s, some Lucas’, some Sofia’s, some mine.

It only served to remind me of one of the darkest periods of The Shade’s history. The Uprising. The memory began to overtake my mind, and just like that, all the light the Sun Room represented turned into pitch black night.

The screams were deafening, the sound of cannons alarming. I watched from where I stood at the top of the fortress as hundreds upon hundreds of the human slaves we’d kept at The Shade to do the labor required to finish the Wall, fought for a chance to escape the island or if not, for the chance to escape the life we’d forced them into.

“What do we do now?” Lucas hissed as he leaned over the fortress, terror visible in his eyes.

I swallowed down the guilt. It was the first time I’d ever allowed myself that indulgence. I knew the drastic measure we had to undertake, because none of them could escape. Not a single one. The moment a human succeeded in leaving the island was the moment that everything we had at The Shade would be over. I couldn’t risk that. I looked at my brother and said the words with more resolve than I felt.

“We have to kill them all.”

I jumped from the fortress down to the solid ground and with one swift swing of my sword, managed to kill three of the men poised to attack me. They came at us – violent and angry – no longer willing to remain our slaves. We tried to convince ourselves that we had no choice, but at the end of the battle, standing amidst the bloody grave left by our determination to keep our sanctuary safe, I knew that the price I paid for The Shade was far too high.

Cora approached me. She was quiet, obviously disturbed.

“How many more must die?” My voice came out broken, blood still dripping from the corners of my lips. “They were innocent.”

“No one is innocent.” Cora shook her head, her gaze distant and blank. “We’re all tainted.”

“I can’t do this anymore.” I shook my head, allowing the guilt to come back after finishing what had to be done.

Cora grabbed my hand. “You won’t ever have to again.”

I found myself wondering if what Cora said had been a lie, because as the murky mist in my mind cleared and a moment of clarity jolted me back to reality, I realized that I was standing in the middle of the Sun Room, with Vivienne holding me by the shoulders, desperation tracing her eyes.

“What have you done, Derek?”

Confusion followed her question as I tasted blood on my lips. “I don’t know…” I stammered. “I guess I blacked out…” From behind Vivienne, I saw Ashley’s limp form on the ground, bite marks – mine – on the side of her neck. Sam and Kyle were groaning as they tried to get up from the ground. Newly formed dents were on the walls I threw them against.

As if all of it weren’t already too much to take, Cameron showed up on the door, his eyes widening at the bloody spectacle. “What happened?”

I responded in a menacing hiss. “Why are you here?”

“Lucas. He escaped. Yuri and I tried to stop him. He almost killed Yuri… if I hadn’t…”